Thief walked from off-licence carrying crate of red wine

A MAN with a drink problem stole a crate of wine from an off-licence in an "incredibly poorly planned" theft, a court has heard.

Dariusz Staszczyk (30) was caught across the road from the store by gardai as he was trying to hide the bottles in his pockets.

A judge fined him €120 for shoplifting and warned him against committing such an offence again.

Staszczyk, with an address at Malahide Road, Artane, pleaded guilty to the theft at the D6 off-licence, Harold's Cross, on April 10.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to the store at 10.10pm.

The manager said the accused had picked up a case of red wine and left the shop without paying.

Staszczyk was still across the road and was pointed out by the manager. When the garda approached, Staszczyk was in a highly intoxicated state and was in the process of taking the bottles from the case and trying to conceal them in his jacket and trousers.

The wine was returned in a saleable condition to the shop. Staszczyk is from Poland and has been living in Ireland for the past year and a half.

Intoxicated

He was working delivering leaflets and free newspapers.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," his lawyer said. "It was incredibly poorly planned and he was easily identifiable. It was clearly the actions of a man who was heavily intoxicated."

Fining the accused, Judge Early warned him he faced a custodial sentence if it happened again.